Childish Antics
by Fortune Cookies and Milk
Summary: What's this? Smaller versions of some of our favorite little trouble makers? Well this can't be so ba-wait. Zexion and Demyx are babysitting? Never mind then, we're all screwed.
1. On Hatred and Science

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, since I do not currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

It was quite a well known fact in school that Cloud hated science. In fact, the only person who might have come close to his capacity to absolutely loathe the subject would be Leon. However, we are not talking about him right now. Rest assured there will undoubtedly be much more on him later but for now though, we're sticking with Cloud. As stated previously Cloud positively abhorred the subject science. And what made it even more unbearable for the blond was the teacher.

You see, Vexen (Cloud outright refused to address him with the proper "Mr." because he didn't believe the older man worthy of even that small respect) was, simply put, boring as all hell. He was well known for going off on tangents pertaining to his own "independent studies" whether it related to the material they were currently covering or not. While this was a fine way to stall for time when a quiz was about to be inflicted upon the class, some had made the mistake of appearing a little too interested and been offered extra credit in exchange for assisting their loony teacher with his experiments.

Luckily, this wasn't the case with Cloud. No, he spent Vexen's lectures catching up on some much needed sleep. His family had always been cursed with a mild case of insomnia and so he didn't get much rest at home and did his best to make up for it in class. Though, this behavior was probably to blame for the F he'd gotten on that one quiz. In hindsight, maybe he should've filled his notebook with actual notes instead of doodles of fluffy, yellow birds and shopping lists for the week…a bit too late to realize that now however because he was already stuck in a classroom, after school, three blocks away from his house and the weekend imminent, yet _unable to leave_.

All because of a retarded make-up/extra credit session! Yes, apparently Vexen was kind enough (not stupid enough to ignore the principal's "advice") to hold these kinds of things in order to help out the many, many students failing his class. Oh, Cloud supposed it couldn't be all bad; at least there were some people he knew stuck in torture with him. Leon, also in his science class and being forced to make up for the failed test as well, was sitting next to him at the table directly in front of Vexen's desk. Why? Because Vexen assumed anyone bold enough to sit in front of him knew what they were doing and so never paid attention to the people sitting there.

Then there were Roxas and Sora, sophomores he knew through his gym class. Sora was there because he'd been absent from class one day and needed to make up the missed points. But Roxas sucked just as badly with Biology as Cloud and Leon did and so was there for the same reasons as them. Most people often mistook the three of them-Cloud, Sora, and Roxas-for siblings when they were together but none of them were actually related. It was kind of freaky honestly-and somewhat suspicious. Cloud had to wonder if his parents weren't telling him something.

Possible shady family secrets aside, Cloud had to admit he rather liked the little brats. Roxas was nice and quiet and understood that little thing called the beauty of silence while Sora was able to make him smile even more than Zack could. The only time they really acted like a couple of annoying kids was when they were around their friends really. Sadly, this was one of those occasions.

Axel, a friend of Roxas and someone Cloud vaguely acknowledged as loud and thus irritating, was probably there to make up for a class he skipped-most likely not of his own choice but Cloud would leave himself out of that. If Axel wanted to be dragged around after his blond friend, then Cloud would leave him to it.

Whereas, Riku-Sora's friend and someone Cloud was also not too fond of- was probably the only one there for actual extra credit. Bastard.

Currently all four of the sophomores were at the next table over chatting with each other about their days. Roxas and Sora were sitting down while Axel and Riku were standing as they'd have to move over to their own table near the back of the room once Vexen came in. Speaking of the man, he soon entered.

Striding to the front of the room and letting the door swing shut behind him, Vexen didn't even pause before he started speaking. "Alright people, let's get this over with! It's Friday and we all want to get out of this monument to stupidity and compulsory torment so just finish the lab," He gestured to the board where the instructions were written in green, "and we can all leave."

There was a small murmur of agreement as Axel and Riku headed back to their table and Sora and Roxas pulled out their copies of the procedures. Cloud, meanwhile, glanced at Leon who did the same to him. The silent question was asked and subsequently passed around like the burning mass of responsibility it was. Who was going to set up the equipment? And more importantly, take charge of the experiment? Throughout this phase of their clashing wills, Vexen merely grumbled to himself at his desk. He _so_ didn't want to be stuck here with such imbeciles. But hey, if he had no choice he might as well get a good rant out of it. And so, he began composing one for the teacher's lounge later.

In fact, he became so immersed that he didn't even notice Riku and Axel start to mess around with the beakers they shouldn't even have been touching.

This, dear audience, is where all the real fun starts.

* * *

It was a rather small explosion. Surprisingly small in fact. Knowing Axel and Riku, Vexen should have expected something more along the lines of blow-a-hole-in-the-wall-and-melt-the-floor but unexpectedly, the only property damage done seemed to be a charred table and quite a lot of smoke. He supposed he should be grateful for that.

He wasn't.

Not that he was mad either. Shocked senseless was more like it. After all, in the space of four minutes and twenty seven seconds, during a lab that hadn't even involved chemicals, Axel and Riku seemed to have managed to discover what various healthcare and beauty product companies for women had been attempting to do for years. The two of them had found a way to reverse aging. This was made apparent by the stares of six toddlers Vexen felt upon his now very much eleven year old body.

Silence, as they all blinked at each other. Finally, Vexen was the one to break it. "How the hell is this even possible!"

Somewhere down the hall, a door slammed

* * *

Now, Leon hated school in general but one of the worst parts was science. He hated the subject. Not as much as Cloud maybe, but he was proud to say he shared a healthy dislike for it. So you can understand why being stuck in the **science** room with the **science** teacher doing a lab to improve his **science** grade was not his idea of fun. Not even the presence of others that would hopefully alleviate his boredom could cheer him up. Rather, the fact that people were there just made his desire to leave even stronger. Especially people by the name of Riku and Axel. Those two had just succeeded in becoming the sole reason Leon was currently on the brink of a metal breakdown due to the trauma of suddenly finding himself shorter than the stool he'd been sitting on and swimming in clothes that were now way too big for him.

Yep, this was definitely one to tell the therapist he was convinced he'd need once he got older.

* * *

Zexion prided himself on being quite the intelligent individual. There was no situation he couldn't escape from with a healthy dose of logic and maybe one of his biting remarks, or so it seemed. That's why when a disturbingly loud explosion could be heard from the biology lab he didn't panic like Demyx or drop his textbook like Kairi. He didn't even flinch like Namine. Instead he very calmly set out to find what all the fuss was about.

The sight that greeted him as he opened the door was one that promptly sent any logic he might have once possessed straight out the window.

What looked like a mine Vexen stood in front of the class in shock while four toddlers rampaged in front of him. What looked like a mini Riku and Sora were currently trying to break up a rather one sided fight between a similar sized Roxas and Axel. Zexion would have described the fight as one sided simply because Roxas was really the only one yelling while Axel just smiled happily, enjoying the blonde's attention. To one side were Cloud and Leon, both reticent as ever. But from their stiff positions it seemed their silence was due to shock more than anything else.

"What's wrong?" Demyx asked appearing behind his suddenly motionless friend. Zexion turned slowly, lips pursed and eyes narrowed in thought.

"Demyx…" he said slowly, "I believe it would be best if we were to run. Run right now and don't look back before we're dragged into this mess and the demon spawn in that room screw us over in ways unimaginable and most likely painful as well." Zexion deadpanned.

"Huh?"

* * *

AN: Well, it seems like you've reached the bottom of this without running away in disgust. So for that, congratulations and thank you. And thank you for reviewing! Because those things are great. Almost as great as the people who write them, in my humble opinion.


	2. On Explanations and Bad Decisions

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, since I do not currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

However, the two didn't even get the chance to try to run. It seemed as if their fates had been sealed the minute they opened the door and just stood there, giving Vexen time to notice and process their presence and its meaning. This was over all too soon though as he immediately snapped his fingers and motioned for them to come closer, usual sour scowl back in place.

"Well don't just stand there, get in here!" the science teacher snarled. "Sit!" He pointed to the chairs across the table in the front opposite of where Cloud and Leon were sitting. Demyx obeyed looking cowed and just slightly terrified (a big improvement from last year when just an ice cold glance from the Professor could send him scurrying to go hide somewhere safer). Zexion frowned slightly but followed after, not liking being ordered around but also not caring enough to make a fuss.

Vexen laboriously dragged over a stool and climbed up on it in order to see over his desk and face the two of them. Clearing his throat, he gestured to not just the room-now a mess-at large but to the children, himself included, and started explaining as best as he could. "As you can see, due to Axel and Riku's foolishness we've been de-aged somehow. From the looks of things, only our bodies have reverted to their current childlike state but only for the moment. As far as I can tell there may be other possible side effects that will manifest themselves later but that will warrant further observation. To prevent this though, I must start researching a cure right away. In the meantime, look after your friends." Vexen turned to escape, white lab coat dragging behind him.

He was prevented from doing so by Zexion speaking. Sadly, Zexion was one of Vexen's few favorite students and so could not be ignored nor brushed off with his usual icy glare. "Professor, I understand that they," he waved vaguely in the direction of the children, "need supervision but you can't possibly believe that _we_ would be a good choice to supervise-" He was cut off by a childish whine.

"Shut up already~ Can't you just do it? I'm begging you here so just listen kaaay?" Vexen stomped his foot childishly looking like he was about to throw a tantrum. Then he blinked. And stared like the four in front of him. Demyx stared. Zexion stared. Leon and Cloud stared although they had been staring ever since they entered their current shocked state of mind. And Vexen was, for once, speechless. Until he started talking again that is.

"Ahem. Well, apparently that outburst counts as a side effect. It seems that although I've retained my adult mind, I'm still inclined to express myself in a childish way."  
"So what you're saying is," Demyx began cautiously.

"Sometimes you, along with the rest of those children from hell over there will randomly start acting the age they look and won't be able to help it?" Zexion finished, eyeing Vexen from behind his curtain of hair.

Vexen nodded in affirmation. "And with that, see ya!" He stuck out his tongue and zoomed away in the rough direction of the parking lot where teachers kept their cars.

Demyx sighed. "I guess we're stuck looking after them until Mr. Vexen finds a way to reverse the effects…I just hope he actually looks."

"Really?" Zexion questioned. "I'm more concerned about what will happen if he attempts to drive in that state."

"Not really. I think we have enough to worry about _here_ for now. What should we do with them?" Demyx looked over at he children. Cloud and Leon hadn't really moved, although their expressions were a bit more natural now but both older teens felt the need to check on the other four. Sora seemed to have succeeded in pulling Roxas away from his temper tantrum and the two were now happily chatting away. Sora occasionally sent worried glances at Riku, who was trying to stop Axel from doing anything stupid in order to regain his friend's attention.

This was when Demyx felt he should step in. Sighing in a much-put-upon manner, Zexion paused and rolled his eyes heavenwards before following. "God-I don't necessarily believe in you but if you give me enough patience to deal with this, I'll reconsider. I'd even be fine with you striking me down right now actually. As long as something that does not classify in the category of worst fucking day ever happens _quickly_."

* * *

Roxas was not happy. **At all**. Not only had he been coerced into coming in to one of Vexen's after school lessons to improve his grade by _Sora_ of all people but then Axel just had to go and screw with the damn chemicals…needless to say, today was not a good day. In fact, today was shaping up to be the most miserable day ever. What sane person after all, would enjoy shrinking down to the size of a four year old? He was short enough as it was! And just as he'd been scolding Axel for his stupidity (which knew no bounds but even this whole scenario was pretty out there) Sora had to interfere.

Roxas didn't understand Sora and Riku's need to play peacekeepers between him and Axel. Sure, he ended up yelling at the redhead a lot but he was never seriously mad at him. The two should be able to tell just by watching Axel. Even when Roxas was shouting loudly enough for the rest of the school to hear, Axel kept that same infuriating grin on his face. Axel was surprisingly skilled when it came to telling when Roxas was serious or not and, if he kept grinning, there was nothing to worry about. Between the two of them, yelling and teasing was a form of affection much like cavity-inducing sweet moments were for Sora and Riku. Those two, along with the rest of the general population, had yet to understand this.

Roxas was eventually pulled from his admonishment of his friend into conversing with Sora, chattering away with the brunette more than usual, for no apparent reason. This was interrupted by Demyx coming over. But Demyx was…well tall was one word for it. Looking up at him, Roxas was once again reminded of the height issue. Before shrinking he hadn't been that much shorter than Demyx but now Roxas had to crane his neck just to see Zexion, dammit! The one person he'd been the same height as!

"Why is he glaring at us?" Demyx whispered to Zexion. The boy shrugged and bent down so as to be somewhere closer to eye level with Roxas.

"Why are you glaring at him?"

Roxas shrugged and adopted his usual sarcastic tone. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I heard you calling us children from hell or maybe I think Vexen is insane for entrusting our wellbeing to Demyx of all people or _maybe_ it's because I'm unable to murder one of the imbeciles who is responsible for my current height!" Here he inserted a glare in Axel's direction which did nothing to deter the redhead from waving enthusiastically back.

At this Zexion sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he straightened up. "Well we can't exactly do anything about your height but I do apologize for saying you came from hell. Clearly, you are one of the more mentally endowed among your group of friends and thus can be trusted to keep a more level head." At this Roxas nodded proudly. "As for Demyx, well I'm more or less certain I can keep him from doing anything _too_ life threatening to you. Although there might have to be some sort of sacrifice somewhere along the way." Zexion warned, ignoring Demyx's squawk of indignation.

Roxas thought about this but just shrugged in the end. "I'm fine with that. We have some expendables right over there." He pointed to where Riku was restraining Axel from running over to them and inquiring as to what they were talking about.

Surveying the room, Zexion decided that they could probably leave it in its current state and instead turned to the toddlers in front of him. Cloud and Leon had somehow migrated to sitting in front of the table Sora and Roxas were standing in front of with Riku and Axel off to the left. Turning to his companion, they started to discuss the situation. Following Zexion's orders, Demyx turned to the six children and raised his voice to gain their attention. "So, it looks like you guys got shrunk huh?" He laughed. "Sucks for you but too bad. Just blame Riku and Axel. Anyway, Mr. Vexen says that he's going to go research something to reverse this so until then, you can stay at my house."

"Won't your parents mind?" Sora asked. Demyx shook his head and grinned.

"They're not home right now. My dad's on a business trip and took my mom with him so they could combine it into some sort of vacation at the same time. Little old me got to stay home."

Riku nodded his understanding. "Alright, will Zexion be staying too? I heard Vexen tell you both to watch us. And by the way, don't group me together with this idiot." He elbowed Axel rather roughly in the ribs. "It was all him when the explosion happened."

Demyx nodded affably before turning away to snicker quietly at Axel's look of betrayal. "How could you Riku? Shoving all of this on me, you were just as responsible! I swear Roxas, he helped me!" the redhead cried, trying to stop Roxas from getting mad at him again.

Sora and Riku convened in an attempt to prevent bloodshed but it was Zexion who put an end to further chaos. "Shut up!" he snapped, in a manner Vexen would have been proud of. "We're leaving. Now." He motioned to the door.

But as the rest made to follow him, a problem quickly became apparent. "Um…Zexion?" Sora called out. When he gained the teen's attention he quickly gestured to himself and the rest of his friends. "It's kind of hard to move around like this." Indeed it was, for although the once-teenagers had shrunk considerably, their clothes had not. This six of them were swamped.

"Now how did we not notice that before?" Demyx muttered.

"I'm sure the fact that our friends have reverted to the bodies of their elementary school years was more than enough to distract us from their clothes." Zexion guessed.

In the end, as Zexion carried Roxas and Demyx carried Sora and Riku (Cloud and Leon were able to manage well enough since they hadn't shrunk as much as the rest and Axel was tall enough to move too) to Demyx's car, it was decided that Demyx would drop the rest of them off at his house before going out shopping for new clothes. Everyone more or less gave some indication of agreement and so, there was no more argument.

It was only after Zexion was locked in a house alone with six _children_ that he realized just how trying an experience this could actually turn out to be. When the crash resounded through the air from the kitchen Zexion could only roll his eyes up.

It was as much a gesture of exasperation at his own stupidity as a plea for mercy from the heavens.

* * *

AN: If you've noticed that this has changed since the last time you've read it then at least you know you're not crazy! So good for you. Because it has changed. Whatever it said before, I don't remember. I just hope it wasn't anything important. But besides that, I do know that I have to thank wonderful people for either reviewing this or adding it to their favorites/alerts list. That's probably all. Probably.


	3. On Shopping and Bandaids

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well seeing as I don't currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

It _could _be argued that Demyx was not the brightest crayon in the box but the teen himself didn't exactly believe that. It was simply the case that his intelligence lay in other areas, ones most people wouldn't think to ask him about. Sure, he didn't know the major item of commerce of the small country of Lithuania **but **he could give an extremely articulate dissertation on the works of most composers as well as perform many of their pieces. Yeah, he was just a genius like that. Likewise, Demyx also knew what to do when it came to shopping. After growing up with three older sisters, it was a sad but inevitable given. In fact, if he hadn't wanted to give up the last shred of his masculinity and go tend flower beds with Marluxia, he would say that he could coordinate an outfit even better than Zexion could do mental math and the guy was almost _legendary _when it came to that.

Which is what led Demyx to elect himself to go buy clothes for the shrunken Riku, Sora, Roxas, Axel, Cloud, and Leon while they stayed with Zexion in his house. He was currently standing in the entrance to the local mall contemplating this decision. Looking back on it, he was forced to reconsider. One, he was only experienced in dressing teens and he doubted any clothes stores for small children would have skinny jeans and band t-shirts. Two, he didn't even know where to go to buy kid's clothes and he really doubted his usual much-frequented stores could help him out with that. Lastly, he had left Zexion alone with six toddlers in his _house_. **Alone**. And he was struck with fear.

"Well crap." he muttered. "The house better be standing when I get back."

* * *

Axel was most definitely not pouting. Nope, no way because pouting would imply that he was cute. Axel did not like being called cute. Unless it was Roxas. Yeah, he could deal with Roxas calling him cute, or hot. Oh he could definitely deal with that. But sadly Roxas was ignoring him because Riku, the whiny little brat, just had to go and blame this whole mess on the poor, poor redhead. Did he think Axel was enjoying this! Because he was most definitely not and the small protrusion of his lower lip proved it.

Because Zexion was a cruel, sadistic person and assisting in what obviously must be Riku's grand master plot to steal the redhead's best friend, he had sentenced Axel to stay in the kitchen until further notice while Roxas watched Sora and Riku play with each other. Cloud and Leon were sitting quietly outside on the porch doing whatever it is unsocial people do. Axel just wanted to go do something with Roxas already but the door was shut tight and frankly Axel didn't think he'd be able to open it without falling over and then someone would hear and that wouldn't do.

Instead he satisfied himself with dragging the chair he was sitting on at the counter over to the cupboards to rifle through them looking for something to eat. His search was rewarded with a jar filled with what smelled like cookies. Pulling the jar down, Axel discovered that it was heavier than he had thought and nearly toppled backwards. He was saved by the back of the chair he was standing on but the cookie jar wasn't so lucky. It slipped and crashed to the floor loudly enough that it could probably be heard from the other side of the house. Mumbling some watered down version of his usual curses, Axel scrambled down and began to pick up the pieces.

* * *

Demyx had recently developed a new fear for any and all females. Now as stated before, he grew up with three of them so respect for those of the feminine class had been instilled in his early childhood. After years of that damage, ahem, _education_ it was almost natural but his most recent encounter had led him to believe that it might be best if he refrained from drawing any more girls into his current predicament.

It had all started innocently enough. Demyx had been wandering the mall, searching for a store in which to buy clothing for his friends but had come up empty. So he had gone up to what looked to be a young mother toting around a toddler that looked the same size as Sora and asked where she bought clothes for her kid. Tapping her on the shoulder he politely asked, "Excuse me but, could you tell me where you buy clothes for your child?"

The woman tilted her head to one side, causing part of her brown hair (that had a really insane way of flipping at the ends) to fall across part of her face. All of a sudden Demyx was reminded of Zexion. "Could I ask why?" The woman pulled him back from his brief daydream as she spoke. "I don't think they have anything that would fit you…"

Demyx quickly shook his head, saying as he did so, "No! I mean, the clothes aren't for me miss…"

The woman laughed. "Yeah, I thought so. Call me Selphie!" she chirped.

"Well, um, Selphie actually I'm looking after some of…my cousins! Yeah, my relatives are in town and while they go off reminiscing about the old days with my parents I volunteered to watch their kids. So I thought that while they were here I'd buy some clothes for them as a present of sorts…" Demyx trailed off, reviewing the lie he'd made up quickly in his mind, scanning for any holes he'd left in his fabricated story.

"How many are you looking after?"

"Six." he told her.

"That many?" Selphie seemed startled and Demyx briefly wondered if six children was a lot. He had as many as eighteen cousins and those were only the ones under ten. Now that was a lot. But he told her he had an extensive family anyway. Selphie accepted the answer and instead asked him how old his cousins were.

"Uh…two, no three of them are around…five? And then one is six and the other two are eight!" Demyx concluded happily. He paused at the strange expression on Selphie's face. But wait, it was changing into-oh no. She had **that** expression on her face.

Demyx was very familiar with **that** expression, much to his regret. He had seen it while shopping, while at the beach, at school, almost anywhere he had at some point in time seen **that **expression, just like he was seeing it now. It was the face girls got whenever they had just pictured something so incredibly adorable and cute that they would never ever let it go, even if the real thing didn't come close to the image they had in their mind. Rather, they'd make the image into reality. This was the expression Selphie had. Demyx suddenly had a really terrible feeling.

Selphie, with a new glint in her eyes that Demyx was too scared to call slight insanity suddenly latched hold onto his arm and _held_. "They sound so cute! I'll help you shop for them!" she squealed. How she was able to deduce that from the very limited information he had given her was a mystery but Demyx figured he'd have plenty of time to think about it as the woman in possession of his arm quickly dragged him off into the depths of the mall.

* * *

Zexion was really starting to question his so-called "intelligence" because really, if he was supposed to be so smart how the hell had he been stupid enough to ever agree to watch these children? This is what he had been thinking before the crash. After the crash, he seriously contemplated just ditching Demyx and saving himself. But sadly his own morals made him go check up on the source of that noise before any further thoughts of escape could surface. Pesky little things.

From what he could tell, it sounded like it had come from the kitchen where Axel was. Of course it would be Axel. Passing through the living room he glanced at Sora and Riku who had the volume of the TV up too loud to have heard Axel making a mess but Roxas, who had been near the door, was looking around in confusion. Motioning for the boy to follow him, Zexion headed to the kitchen thoroughly prepared to let the blond give his irresponsible friend a scolding. Preferably with at least one hit. Axel wouldn't take shit from anyone but Roxas and Zexion had always kind of wanted the redhead to get one square punch in the face. It might stop his incessant smirking. Roxas was getting the suspicious feeling he sometimes experienced when Axel had done something to piss someone off. He had gotten quite accustomed to it seeing as it was almost always there, so it was easy to recognize when it was happening, like now.

Entering the kitchen the two were surprised to see Axel crouched on the floor, attempting to actually pick up the pieces of the jar he had dropped. Cookies were all over the floor, making it clear as to what his goal had been. The noise from their entrance startled him and he dropped the piece he'd been holding, spinning around to face them with a guilty look on his face. "I didn't do it!"

Zexion leaned against the door, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. Obviously he was not impressed. "Sure you didn't. So would you like to direct me to the ghost that did?"

Axel nodded and pointed to somewhere in the vague direction of the pantry. "It's in there!"

"Did you happen to pick up on the sarcasm in that sentence?" Zexion asked.

Axel grinned. "Sure did, just ignoring it Zexy." His smile widened at the slight twitch of irritation the older teen had given at the detested nickname. Only Demyx called him that! Wait, no, _no one_ was allowed to call him that. Right.

Roxas, meanwhile, had remained silent, choosing to observe the mess scattered around the kitchen and finally his friend who was currently bickering with their caretaker. Not such a smart idea but that wasn't what caused the small blond to frown. All of a sudden, he rushed over to Axel, grabbing his wrist and holding it up. "You're bleeding!" he cried.

And it was true. Apparently, in his surprise Axel had cut himself when he dropped the piece of the jar when Roxas and Zexion entered. "Oh wow, it's true!" Axel looked at the cut which was bleeding rather a lot. He wasn't particularly worried seeing as it didn't even hurt but Roxas looked anxious.

"Zexion, Axel needs a band aid! Shit, this is a pretty deep cut…Axel don't die!" The last statement was a bit of an overreaction but the redhead who was currently being fawned over by his best friend couldn't care less. It was better than getting yelled at after all.

Zexion sighed and called out to Sora and Riku. When they answered he told them to go look for band aids in the bathroom while he hunted around for a first aid kit. "Knowing that idiot," Zexion murmured, referencing to Demyx, "along with the kind of trouble he gets into, there should be one somewhere."

* * *

AN: Do people even read this? Anyway, I know there's been a severe lack of Sora and Riku but that will be fixed in the next chapter or so for sure! Sorry about that, up until now. Again, thanks for reading and reviewing! You have no idea how happy I am when I see someone has added this to their favorites or alerts too. If you feel inclined to leave a review, I'd be interested to know what you think will happen in this story, but if not I'd be happy if you left one anyway.


	4. On Cooking and Crossdressing

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, seeing as I do not currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

_This is not my fault. This is not my fault. This is not my fault. _This certain mantra was the one that had been repeating in Riku's head on infinite loop ever since he found himself back in that cursedly adorable appearance of his childhood years that should have been lost in time and memories. But his preening wasn't important right now. What was important was that Roxas was currently throwing a fit in the living room where all eight of the occupants of Demyx's house had gathered once the owner returned from shopping.

It had been around four hours after Demyx left and the kids could tell Zexion was starting to get worried. For his own sanity, that is. In the four hours Demyx had been gone, Axel had broken a jar that Zexion had to clean up but Roxas had also forgiven him and although it involved a few minutes of chaos, at least they were finally quiet, going off to play in the yard. Cloud and Leon had gone temporarily missing, causing quite a panic until Sora located them sleeping under the table in the kitchen. What they were doing there exactly was unknown but Riku couldn't really care less. The only thing he cared about was when Sora nearly slid down the stairs but that had been avoided thanks to Zexion's surprisingly good reflexes. While Riku took care of the shaken Sora, Zexion retreated to the kitchen to call Demyx and demand he come home. The blond soon did and that was when the trouble started again.

According to him, he had run into some crazy flippy-haired chick who had dragged him around the mall for _hours_, picking out clothes and games and snacks for his cute "cousins" until his wallet emptied out. When he had finally staggered home, everybody had gathered in the living room to receive their clothes. Cloud had gotten something similar to what he was already wearing, black pants and a turtleneck. Leon had received a white t-shirt and stylishly ripped jeans. It was clothes like these that Selphie had picked out for them. It wasn't until most of the outfits were passed out and everybody except Roxas was changed that the trouble that wasn't Riku's fault started. By now, the only clothing left was a nice little dress, something that Namine might have worn. The problem here is obvious.

"Demyx! What the hell is **this**?" Roxas yelled, waving around the dress in question.

"That Roxy, would be a dress." Demyx calmly replied.

"And what am I supposed to do with it!"

Demyx smiled sheepishly. "Um…wear it?"

"Like hell I will!"

It was then that Axel decided to chime in with his opinion. "Oh why not, Rox? I bet you'd look cute."

This only led to more shouting (the slightest raising of the voice in Zexion's case) and the chanting that was currently going through Riku's head at high speed. Sora interrupted this splendidly by choosing the perfect moment to shout in Riku's ear. "This is all your fault Riku!"

"What? How is it my fault?" Riku cried indignantly.

"You were supposed to help me stop Axel and Roxas fighting by keeping Axel's mouth shut!"

"Look, I know I'm amazing and all but I'm not a god. Don't ask for the impossible." Riku objected.

Sora gave a very uncharacteristic roll of his eyes. "Uh-huh, sure Riku. Just go over there and break them up!" he pointed to where Demyx was trying to force Axel away while Zexion worked on persuading Roxas to wear the dress. Riku grimaced but walked over there anyway.

"Hey…" he called. "Hey. Listen up!" he finally shouted. "Stop fighting already! Roxas, why can't you wear the dress?"

Roxas scowled. "Don't tell me you don't see a problem with that." Riku shrugged.

"Fine…I guess there's only one thing we can do. I guess I-" Sora beamed. Riku was going so far just to stop the fighting! He knew Riku was a secret pacifist. "I volunteer Sora to wear to wear the dress. Sora, switch clothes with Roxas!"

"What?" Sora ran up to Riku and the others. "Nononono, no! This is the part where _you_ volunteer to wear the dress!"

"Too bad! Look, you said to stop them fighting and I found a solution. Besides, you're the only one who's the same size as Roxas."

"Nononono, no!" Axel cried. "Rox has to wear the dress! He'd never live it down, it's perfect blackmail!" He was silenced with one hit to the back of the head courtesy of a temperamental blond.

With his only ally gone, Sora turned to the one other person who might support him and his crusade against wearing a dress. Sadly, that person had _that _look on his face. Yes, Demyx was currently supporting an expression similar to **that **one that women wore but less imagining-something-completely-and-utterly-adorable and more I-just-had-the-best-idea-EVER-and-you're-going-to-hate-it. Demyx grinned and as one with Riku, pounced.

* * *

While the whole dress commotion continued on in the living room, Cloud had chosen to quietly make his escape when he had the chance. He was now happily sitting on the bottom steps of the staircase leading to the second floor. Or, he was until Zexion found him.

Now, as a quiet person by nature, Cloud didn't speak much. Neither did Zexion unless it was one of the two languages he was fluent in: sarcasm and scientific jargon. This being established, not many words were exchanged between the two but somehow, Zexion managed to bully the smaller blond who was once his senior into helping with dinner. Then Cloud spotted Leon, who had witnessed their intense stares and correctly guessed the cause of their clashing wills, and was trying to flee down the hallway. This was in vain however, as Cloud quickly latched onto his arm and dragged him along to lessen the workload for himself.

What? They were science partners, and cooking was like science right? This wasn't because he didn't want to be the one wearing the pink apron that was hanging in Demyx's pantry. Poor Leon.

_

* * *

_

_This is all Riku's fault. _Sora was sure of it. After all, who was the one who shrunk them all down? Well, mostly Axel but Riku was there too. Who was the one who forced him into a dress just so Roxas wouldn't go into homicidal mode? Demyx, but Riku helped! And now who was the one currently trying to get him to speak to him? All Riku.

"Come on, Sora. I said I'm sorry! How many times do you want me to apologize? I didn't think Demyx would actually force you into the dress, I just wanted them all to calm down."

Once again, Sora turned his back on who he usually called one of his best friends. He heard Riku sigh and move away to turn on the TV. Well, good! Riku could stand to receive the silent treatment more often. Maybe it would teach him not to sacrifice Sora's dignity so carelessly just to achieve what Sora wanted. But still, when he heard the sound of one of the many gaming systems Demyx owned powering up he couldn't help but want to turn around to see what Riku was playing and possibly play for himself.

No! He had to be strong! Just remember the dress. He was not going to give Riku the satisfaction of knowing Sora was curious. But the game sounded so fun.

As he watched Sora squirm, Riku smirked. "You know, you can play too if you want." he called.

Sora froze. So Riku had noticed after all. Well, in that case, "Okay then. But I'm still mad at you!"

The silver haired boy just shook his head and tossed a controller at his friend. "Sure thing. Hey, what about this? If I can beat you at this game, you have to forgive me. If you win, _we _can switch clothes." Even though Riku would be extremely disappointed if that actually happened. Sora looked cute in that dress.

The brunette himself grinned. "I accept."

* * *

"Cloud, you're burning it!" Zexion shouted (or what counted as shouting to him; to other people, it was just the slight raising of his voice).

Cloud hurriedly turned off the oven and waited for Zexion to bustle over and extract the remains of what had once been lasagna from the now-smoking oven. As Zexion dumped the dark matter in the trash and the pan in the sink he turned around only to groan at the bleeding finger shoved in his face. "What the hell, Leon?" he grumbled. "How many times have you cut yourself now? I always thought Cloud would be the one slicing open his fingers when chopping vegetables. For some reason, I took you as more skilled in the kitchen than this."

Leon just stared silently until Zexion groaned again and extracted a band aid from the stash he had taken to keeping on him at all times. Turning back to Cloud, who was attempting to clean the dishes that had held their failures in the culinary arts, Zexion just told him to leave it. Pacing over to the fridge, Zexion peeked inside. "Hmm…" he mumbled to himself. "We've already tried cooking lasagna, salad, chicken, fried rice, and the Chinese food Demyx had in here. You know what? Screw this, I'm ordering pizza." And with that he strode over to the phone.

* * *

AN: I don't really have a lot to say except thanks for reading! Not to mention reviews/favorites etc. Any feedback on my writing is much appreciated. See, short right? With that, until the next chapter!


	5. On Family Meals and Bedtime Stories

Disclaimer: It's disappointing but I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything else I might end up using in future writing. Sad right? Yeah, I know.

* * *

Zexion actually found it rather amusing that Demyx had the number for the nearest pizza place programmed into his home phone, for his parents when Demyx was elsewhere, as the teen himself told him. Was it surprising Demyx was the only good cook in his family? Yes. Did it still somehow make sense? In the strangest way possible, it did. In fact, it appeared that everyone else in the house-even Cloud and Leon-had sampled Demyx's cooking and agreed that they would willingly sell themselves (for anything horrific up to spending time with their principal in a locked office; that's where they had to draw the line) for the chance to have him as a personal chef for a year or two or twenty.

But that's digressing. Right now you must be wondering just when Demyx revealed his apparent skill in the culinary arts if the only thing anybody in the house would be eating for however long they gathered there would be take out. It was when the pizza guy (rather rudely) asked whether Demyx was going away somewhere and was just setting up the pizza for his (horribly untalented) parents because usually the two of them were never seen within twenty feet of each other when it came to pizza delivery. Of course, this led to the revelation and Zexion's current train of though which included how late he'd have to sleep in for Demyx to get up, get tired of waiting, and cook breakfast for the house and whether he could somehow request pancakes in advance.

This was brought to a crashing halt however when the piece of pizza Axel was waving around nearly slapped him in the face. Jerking around to glare at the annoying child (and sadly, all he could do was glare because any violence would be treated as child abuse by an outside party, unless they actually knew Axel-then, they'd be able to tell he probably deserved it) Zexion was treated to the unfolding of a spectacular event.

Axel was cheering for Sora as the small boy who Zexion had once thought to be gentle and nonviolent beat the crap out of Riku in their video game. Looking at the skill with which Sora fought and the contrasting grin on his face, half of Zexion was glad Sora would never be able to fight in real life like that while the other half almost wanted to be able to witness such a sight. As Axel got a bit too exuberant, the slice of food flew out of his hand and, karma being cruel, hit Roxas. Note this.

This is the part where Axel is supposed to shut up, meekly apologize, and hope the universe and more importantly, Roxas, were feeling merciful that particular day. **Not**, I repeat _not _supposed to laugh loudly, throw his arm around his smaller friend, and tease him about it. But, as Zexion looked on, trying not to let the smile tilting his lips up escape, he observed that it made some pretty good entertainment.

Slowly, Roxas reached up to grab the pizza that had become attached to his face and leaned away from Axel. The moment he was far enough, he promptly slapped Axel with the same piece of pizza.

What happened next shouldn't even need to be explained but it shall be stated anyway. As the following food fight started, Zexion turned away, deciding that Demyx could stop them if he really wanted to. It was his house after all.

* * *

Never let it be said that Roxas was in any way passive. The second Axel dared let that piece of pizza he'd been waving around in his grubby hands go, a fight was inevitable. Luckily for the surrounding area, along with the people in it, the fight only involved food. Unless you were Marluxia and considered getting pizza sauce on your designer clothes a fate worse than death. But Marluxia wasn't here and so the possibility of getting hit with a stray piece of food or some soda was let go without any ear-splitting shrieks of a pitch most normal males shouldn't be able to reach.

That was until Demyx came in from the kitchen where he'd been eating with Leon and Cloud and caught sight of the warzone that had replaced his living room. Yelling, the fearless (or maybe just obliviously naïve) soul didn't hesitate to insert himself between the toddlers. "Stop, STOP!"

Roxas and Axel paused long enough to look at the sudden interference in the midst of their battle. Finally, Roxas spoke up. "Yes…?"

"Playing with your food is bad manners!" Demyx chided them, wagging his finger mockingly. "And so is fighting. You'll scare Fluffy for god's sake!"

"Fluffy?" Axel questioned at the same time that Roxas mouthed the word.

Demyx nodded brightly. "Yeah! You know, Fluffy, my cat?"

"You have a cat?" Axel exclaimed.

Demyx rolled his eyes as if Axel was the stupid one here (which he was but Demyx didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings). "Well duh. Right over there!" And he pointed.

Roxas and Axel both turned to look in the direction Demyx was pointing. When they saw the exact thing he was pointing at, their jaws fell. "That's not a cat, that's a furry _pillow_!" Roxas cried. Almost as if to prove Roxas wrong, the "pillow" chose that moment to open its eyes and yawn, displaying a large amount of teeth. Jumping down from the couch, Fluffy padded away to disappear into the depths of the backyard. Axel and Roxas stared after it.

Turning toward each other, as one they just gave up and fell back onto the couch beside Zexion to watch Sora and Riku continue fighting. Not that they'd noticed enough of their surroundings to ever stop.

* * *

Demyx was about at his wit's end. No, really, if this had been a video game his energy bar would've been on the verge of nonexistent by now. First there had been the mess left over from the food fight between Roxas and Axel; that had required a lot of cleaning up. And then tearing Sora and Riku away from their video game took a whole hour and a half. Zexion had been quite unwilling to help out too so it all fell to Demyx. By now, Cloud and Leon were well on their way to becoming his favorite people in the world. At least they listened to what others asked them!

But now, _now _came the true test of Demyx's stamina. The kids were all showered and ready for bed. They were all camped out in the living room, like a big sleepover. Demyx had already read them a few stories. The challenging part? **They refused to fall asleep****!** He'd already read them ten books!

"It's not our fault! We're just not tired!" Riku complained. "I don't see why you can't let us stay up late like we usually do."

"Because," Demyx insisted, "you're children and need a lot of sleep. I'm not about to deal with six cranky brats tomorrow morning and I'm pretty sure Zexion won't want anything to do with you either." He shot the other, who had been sitting passively to the side, a warning look that clearly said 'if you don't help me, they're all yours in the morning'. He got the message and sighing, stood up.

"Brats!" Zexion yelled imperiously. The children in the room turned toward him, scowling resentfully. They were not children here! Zexion returned the look as he moved to sit on the floor beside Demyx. "If we make up a story will you go to bed?"

Demyx grinned as the six of them spoke amongst themselves before Sora, elected leader spoke up. "That'd be fine. As long as it's a good story. And you both have to tell one!" Zexion looked like he'd protest (after all, he just wasn't the story telling type) but Demyx cut in.

"Sure! That's fine with both of us! In fact, Zexy wants to go first!"

Normally there would've been some reminder to not use the nickname from Zexion inserted somewhere but the teen was suspiciously silent. Looking over, Demyx saw one of the scariest expressions he had ever seen on his friend's face. It was an Axel expression, or a Riku one. It was a smirk that implied a devious plan and an evil glint in his eye that promised destruction in its wake. Rightfully, Demyx was scared. Then the expression was gone. Poof.

The smaller versions of his friends hadn't seemed to notice and crowded around Zexion quickly. Clearing his throat, Zexion began his story. Demyx, deciding he had just imagined whatever had happened earlier, sat back to listen as well.

"One day, a man was lounging around his house. It was the middle of summer and the heat was stifling. The man had barely moved that morning but was already sweating.

So, he wandered into the kitchen to get something cold to drink. Luckily for him, there was already a tall glass of ice cold lemonade on the counter. Thinking it a gift from the gods, the man threw his head back and gulped down the drink in record time.

However, when he had drained the cup and first opened his eyes, he immediately froze. The man had seen something truly terrifying.

There, at the bottom of the cup was…a single, black cockroach. The end." Zexion finished, looking for reactions to his tale.

Silence, for a moment, and then they came pouring in.

"_What_ the hell? That was gross! Ugh!" Axel clutched his stomach, looking disgusted.

Sora shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself, muttering something that sounded like, "Damn scary. Who comes up with this stuff?"

"Fucking disgusting!" Roxas shouted, looking a little pale. "Zexion, you sick-minded freak!"

Riku seemed to be scared speechless. Even Cloud and Leon looked a bit nauseated. Demyx looked at Zexion, slightly appalled.

"Zexy! I can't believe you would tell them something like that!"

The smirking boy just shrugged. "You volunteered me to go first even though I didn't have a story prepared so I just went with the first thing I could think of. So really, the nightmares and emotional scarring they'll suffer from this is all your fault. And their's because I've been run ragged by them all evening."

Demyx rolled his eyes and tried to pull off a glare that was about as threatening as a puppy's growling. When that failed to have an effect, he turned back to the panicking children and tried to calm them with a more heartwarming story.

"Once upon a time the night was pitch black and the people were engulfed in darkness. This was because the stars refused to shine for selfish humanity who only thought about themselves and were always quarreling with each other. Traveling was dangerous and all people could do was remain safely in their homes for as long as they could. There was not merrymaking and people rarely laughed. It was a time full of sorrow and despair. This all changed when a certain boy was born.

He was a beautiful child, kind and cheerful despite his dark surroundings. Because he was so different from the other miserable children, he was often treated as an outcast and teased mercilessly but this only made the boy all the more determined to be kind to anyone he met. Adults neglected and ignored him, thinking he was bewitched or possessed. It was his frugal upbringing that taught the boy to live humbly and in this fashion, gained all sorts of virtues.

Finally, when he was old enough to understand such things, he set out to understand why the world was so dark. The boy knew it was this that made people so sad and he wanted to help by bringing light into the world. So he traveled all the way up to the stars to ask them to please shine down on the world. The stars, believing him to be just another selfish arrogant human sent him away. Each day, the boy would come back and politely ask again but again, the stars would ignore him. Finally getting fed up with the constant bother, the stars told the boy that if he went nine days without food, water, or sleep they'd light up the sky.

The boy was overjoyed at this and promised he'd do it. The stars, who knew nine days was impossible for a human to go without sustenance watched and waited for the boy to give up. But he didn't, instead laboring on even as he wasted away. By the time eight days had passed, it was only his incredible willpower keeping the boy alive. By the time the ninth day finally ended, he was dead. Seeing this, the stars were filled with guilt and regret and kept their promise to the boy as they lit up the night sky. Their tears became the falling stars and in honor of the boy never once have they stopped shining."

By the time Demyx was finished speaking, the six spread out before him were fast asleep, not to wake up anytime soon. He and Zexion went around tucking them in and headed toward the door. Zexion would be sleeping in the spare room that night. As Zexion flipped the lights off, Demyx could have sworn he'd heard him mutter something.

"Did you say something, Zexy?"

Startled, Zexion denied it. "Nothing. Why?"

Demyx grinned. "Oh reeaally? Because I could have sworn I heard you say the kids are cute when they're being quiet."

"N-no, I didn't!" But the flustered countenance and light pink of his cheeks spoke otherwise.

"Zexy, could it be possible that you…like kids?" Demyx leaned in. "Don't be shy now! You can tell me the truth." Zexion's only answer was to push past the taller blond and storm off in the direction of what was hopefully the guest bedroom. Smirking, Demyx followed after.

Oh, he'd remember this little bit of information.

* * *

AN: Haha, guess what? I'm not dead! Anyone notice the missing chapter last week? ...no? Didn't think so. But that was just a little something called homework sneaking up on me. I've got my stuff together now so I should be able to go back to updating every week again. But you don't care do you? On to other things, anybody recognize where I got the Zexion's story from? My friend showed it to me and I thought it was so funny I just had to use it. And now to keep this short, I'll just say thanks for all the reviews/alerts/faves. They brighten up my day!


	6. On Research and Playground Bullies

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, seeing as I don't currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

It wasn't a dark and stormy night. There actually wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it wasn't even night-it was ten in the morning and the sun had been beating down cheerfully since seven. Of course, it's not like any of that mattered. The weather couldn't concern a certain scientist less seeing as he had been locked in his basement/"laboratory" (it was really just his basement) for the past twenty hours.

Vexen was starting to really feel the effects of being an eleven year old. His mind refused to stay focused and his body wore out quickly. He'd already stopped for a break twice which was so out of character for him it shot him into a researching frenzy. Vexen supposed it was worse for him than the others seeing as he was older and less accustomed to being in a body still going. But taking into account their mental maturity and the onset of a childish common sense we've all experienced (being, if there's a reason not to do it, it must be insanely fun) the four sophomores could very well drive Zexion insane. Not even the reassurance that Cloud or Leon would never do something like that helped much.

Demyx, you ask? What about him? That guy would be fine, no matter what the world threw at him. It was well known information to everyone. But there was Vexen's mind wandering again. He couldn't afford it at a time like this! He was getting suspiciously close to what looked like a breakthrough…

* * *

The morning for the involved teenagers was definitely hectic. Demyx did end up making breakfast but it was something of a rush job. Zexion, Cloud, and Leon had used up anything that could be considered proper ingredients in their attempt at cooking last night so he had to make do with whatever was left. Zexion was extremely disappointed. The kids didn't care though; children will eat anything after all.

It was after breakfast when the real problem presented itself though. It was a Saturday and normally they'd all be carrying out their usual routines. Zexion would be heading out to the book store or the library to stock up on things to read for the next week. Demyx would follow along patiently before dragging his more literate friend to whatever hole in the wall he'd be performing at for the night (Demyx was known for playing his sitar at the strangest places but his friends always showed up no matter what). Sora and Riku would take turns saving each other from a shopping trip with Kairi, which could literally take days-the girl had no problem missing a few classes she was acing anyway. Cloud would meet up with Tifa and Leon would go on an adventure with Yuffie, Aerith, and Vincent somewhere in the depths of Merlin's shop. Even Roxas and Axel would spend the day doing whatever Roxas and Axels liked to do. All in a normal Saturday.

But this wasn't a normal Saturday. It wasn't even a normal day in general. And that was because Demyx and Zexion were currently babysitting miniature versions of their friends and no one knew how to spend the day. Everyone agreed that broadcasting the news that Riku and Axel had messed up and shrunk everybody in Vexen's extra credit/make-up class was a bad idea so going out as a group was a bust. But staying inside all day wouldn't be greeted with smiles and rainbows either. The best option seemed to be to go out in small groups. Oh what fun the day promised.

* * *

In Demyx's sadly neglected opinion, Zexion had hardly been fair when it came to which of them stayed with which kids. That morning, Zexion, not to be denied his weekly reading had practically run out the door with Cloud and Leon in tow. This left Demyx with the rest. It wasn't that he expected Zexion, quiet, reserved Zexion (who was still really nice and fun to hang out with despite all that) to volunteer to take the four loudest kids but he could've at least taken _one_. Or, better yet, split Cloud and Leon between them so they each had one quiet kid and two…not so quiet ones.

But this was not to be and now the three quietest people the blond knew were probably gone for the rest of the day. Not to be defeated, Demyx attempted to think of the best way to survive without them. In the end, he decided that having them sleep the day away would be genius; now he just had to convince them to do it.

"Dear Murphy, please choose someone else's life to screw up today. Preferably a guy toting around two toddlers in a book shop who left his best friend to be run ragged by demons disguised as his friends in kiddy form." Demyx prayed before stepping out of his house.

* * *

It wasn't that Sora was mad at Demyx for taking them to the park-somewhere he hadn't been in years. No, he didn't mind that. It was actually kind of nice to be able to play around on the slide and the swings without looking too old for them. The fact that Demyx left him alone to succumb to the will of Axel and Roxas who wanted ice cream didn't particularly irk him either. After all, since Demyx felt he could leave him alone didn't that mean in the older teen's eyes Sora was more mature than the other two? It did.

The only thing that really got to Sora was that Demyx had left him alone with _Riku_. Yeah, that's right. Sora was still mad at Riku for that stupid dress thing. Sure it had been last night and by now, he had gotten some new clothes but that wasn't the point!

"Sora…" Riku tried approaching his pouting friend. He was duly ignored. "Sora…Sora, look at me! Okay, fine, don't. But at least listen!" Sora just turned further away from the pleading jerk known as Riku.

"I'm still not talking to you!" he reaffirmed. "And that didn't count just now!"

Riku sighed. "What do I have to do to get you to forgive me?" He was starting to get a bit frustrated but knowing Sora, he'd crack soon. Sora got up and stalked away. Okay…maybe not. Riku ran after him.

Sora was really trying his hardest. By now he was starting to see that his continued anger at Riku was getting to the point of being unreasonable but he figured it'd be okay to keep it up a little longer. So caught up was he in thoughts like this that he didn't watch where he was going carefully enough and ended up bumping into somebody.

"Oh!" Stumbling back, Sora looked up at the taller figure he'd walked into.

"What the hell?" Seifer looked down at the dumb kid who'd run into him.

Sora's eyes widened. It was Seifer. Well crap. "Umm…"

The bully glared. "Watch where you're going kid!" he barked.

Sora gulped and nodded. Seifer still hadn't left. What did he want? Sora knew _he_ wanted to run but it seemed as if his little kid instincts had kicked in and determined that as long as he stayed very quiet and very still, he'd be okay.

Seifer, on the other hand was still waiting for his apology. When he didn't get anything except a stare that was only annoying in it's timidity he took a threatening step forward. Sora took a step back. And then Riku came running up.

"Don't bully Sora!" he shouted angrily, quickly moving in front to shield the brunette that had better forgive him after this.

Seifer looked decidedly unimpressed. As he stared down at the two brats in front of him, trying to decide just how to scare them into tears, a more worthy adversary chose that moment to butt in.

"Oh how cute!" she squealed, catching sight of Riku trying his best to protect Sora. "That's so precious. You're a brave one, aren't you? Well, good for you, being so ready to take care of your little friend! Are you playing with them?" The last was directed toward Seifer who looked vaguely amazed as this girl tore through the previous atmosphere. Sora and Riku sported similar bemused expressions. Catching sight of Seifer's clenched fists, she suddenly frowned in disapproval. "Were you going to wrestle? That's not good you know! You older kids have no idea of your own strength, what were you going to do if you hurt these adorable children? Why don't you find somebody else to play with?" she asked kindly.

Deciding not to oppose this, this **force of nature**, Seifer chose to give up and wander away, spotting Hayner and the other two losers who hung out with him getting harassed by Rai and Fuu. He decided to join them. Turning back to the two "cuties", the girl smiled, gave them some candy, and walked off after patting them on the head.

Slowly, Sora turned to Riku. "Who was that?"

"I don't know…but in a way she's kind of scary."

"Agreed."

Taking advantage of Sora's dazed state, Riku, who had recovered quicker, asked, "Do you forgive me now?"

"Sure..."

"Want to go play on the swings?"

"Alright...wait what? Did I just forgive you?"

Riku nodded. "Are you going to take it back?" He fixed Sora with his patented disappointed look.

Sora sighed. "Nah. Let's just...let's just go play."

And for the first time since last night, Riku smiled.

* * *

AN: Alright...so I didn't get it up last weekend. I'm sorry about that. But I'm going to have to cut my apology (which originally consisted of a rather nice speech about the kind and patient nature the people still reading this must have) a bit short to notify said people of a few things. One of them is this: I've decided to try to update this every week or so. Well, I've pretty much been doing that already but this is to clarify. There's no specific date, just the time frame of a week. Secondly, I've finally gotten around to replying to any feedback I've gotten so far. I feel so guilty that I've put it off so much but here it is, responses to reviews! Oh, and this is operating under the assumption that the people who reviewed have stuck around long enough to read this.

**Blue October**: Thank you! I don't deserve the kind words. That review was actually kicked me into gear and writing this chapter. Yeah...I'm lazy.

**miano53**: Glad somebody thinks this is funny. As to Sora in a dress...it seemed to fit the way the whole situation was flowing...

**UndineAlice**: Thanks for always reviewing! When I see them, I just get so happy. In answer to your question, I was actually thinking about it before and since you brought it up, decided to just include it. I'm afraid it won't be anything too big though. Sorry if you were expecting otherwise. ^^

**Alex Wraithborn**: Mm, I hope you don't mind the focus on Sora and Riku lately. There'll be more of the others coming up!

**Froggiecool**: You were one of the few reviewers for the earlier chapters and made me extremely happy! If you're still reading this, I'll be happier still.

**SharinganWeasel**: And you too! I think you were actually the first person to review and I really hope you've stuck around.

**The . L O S T . Paperclip**: Thank you. I think Zexion's prediction has come true by now.

If I happened to miss anybody, let me know. And I think I'll be doing this every few chapters too. Okay. This AN is the longest so far and people have probably already moved on but I just have one last thing to say. A little romance will most likely strike up between Zexion and Demyx, which is a roundabout way of saying they'll end up together. Nothing big, no changes to the plot or the rating, just warning you now. It'll be pretty minor but I will change the genres this is listed under. Hope I haven't turned anyone away. Alright! Thank you for the reviews and if they were to keep coming, I wouldn't be able to express how happy that'd make me! The favorites and alerts too! And I'll leave it at that.


	7. On Trauma and Phone Calls

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, seeing as I don't currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

"Riku! Sora! Are you two alright? I saw Seifer walking away…I thought I told you to stay by the playground!" Demyx chided as he jogged up with Roxas and Axel following behind at a slower pace on account of the towering ice cream cones they were balancing.

While Sora, distracted by the sight of the sweets, ran up to Roxas to try to wheedle a bit from the blond, Riku started retelling Demyx what had happened in his absence. "It's not my fault! I mean, I was probably the reason Sora wandered away in the first place, but after that I properly stood up for him! Against Seifer, no less." Demyx 'ooh-ed' appropriately. "But…yeah, Seifer was probably on the verge of beating us up anyway." Riku hung his head. "But then this lady came and rescued us!" he exclaimed, brightening and throwing his hands up in the air.

"A lady?" Demyx questioned.

Riku nodded earnestly. "She was _insane_. I thought she would suffocate from talking so fast but I guess not because she seemed fine."

"An insane lady…?" Demyx felt the beginnings of foreboding stirring in his stomach. "And what did this lady look like?"

Riku considered his answer carefully because Demyx literally looked like his future mental well being depended on this. Sadly, he still chose the wrong thing to say. "She had some really weird hair. The ends were all flippy, like this!" And he demonstrated by holding the ends of his own hair up in the same way that the woman's had.

"_Her_." Demyx muttered as visions of an endless progression of clothes and that godforsaken _mall_ paraded before his eyes.

* * *

"Yes?" Zexion flipped his phone open and answered without taking his eyes off the book in his hands for a second. From the ring tone, it was apparently Demyx calling. Probably with some sort of dire emergency that would require Zexion's damage control. And that was if he was being optimistic.

"Zexion? It's Roxas. Where are you?" Zexion frowned as he tried to come up with a reason why Roxas would be using Demyx's cell. "At the bookstore. Cloud and Leon are somewhere in the children's section I think. Roxas, why are you calling? Did something happen to Demyx?" he asked with a faint amount of worry in his voice, which was unusual but went unnoticed.

"You see, that's why I'm calling. Riku was telling Demyx about this lady that helped him and Sora out against Seifer and all of a sudden he just started mumbling about credit cards and clothes sizes before fainting. We think he's traumatized so I thought it'd be a good idea to call and let you know."

Zexion sighed in what could either be relief or exasperation; it's up to debate. "Thank you. I knew there was a reason I deemed you the most intelligent of your group. I assume the others are gathered around Demyx drawing on his face?" He received an affirmative. "Well, don't worry. I'll go pick you up right now. Expect us in fifteen minutes. And have Demyx's wallet out. He'll be paying our taxi fare."

"Kay. See you."

* * *

Somewhere on the other side of the bookstore, Cloud and Leon were just about at their limit. Most people wouldn't mind a little weekend excursion to the bookstore. In fact, some people even went out of their way to make it a weekly routine for themselves. And all because they assumed that any bookstore had to promise a little peace and quiet entertainment whenever you went there. Obviously these people have never visited the toddler area of any large scale outlet.

Little kids ran rampant and even some parents too, chasing after them. The worker in charge of reading to the little monsters had long despaired of ever getting all of them to be quiet and sit down so instead just let the ones who would run do what they would while the slightly older, better behaved kids picked stories to listen to. The only thing was that the blond and the brunette were the sole two willing to listen.

Because of this, they were currently getting the hell annoyed out of them by the worker trying to involve them in the story like she was getting paid to read to them. It was only after twenty consecutive minutes of two deadpanned stares and some apathetic head movements that the overly cheerful girl gave up and started flipping through a magazine instead.

Finally, Zexion came to their rescue, dragging them away, out of the store, and into a cab all the while explaining how Demyx was in a disturbed mental state and so it looked like the group would be spending the day together after all.

At the thought of an entire day in the park (a place where children were actually meant to run around like headless chickens) with Axel and Sora, along with some other little brats, Cloud almost wished that they could go back to the bookstore. To Leon, hell was the same whether it was filled with books and minimum wage workers or swings and skinned knees.

* * *

Demyx's face had gained a lovely mustache, a scar on his cheek, and a monocle by the time Zexion, Cloud, and Leon's taxi pulled up. As promised, Roxas ran up with Demyx's wallet to let Zexion pay for their ride before leading all three of the newcomers over to where Axel was trying very hard to listen and behave like Roxas told him to. Sora and Riku were assisting by listing all the fun (and illegal in some places) things Axel _could_ be doing.

"Stop that." Zexion snapped as he came up and knelt next to Demyx. "Hey." he called, shaking the unconscious teen. "Wake up. Demyx!" Pinching the bridge of his nose, Zexion exhaled before adopting a tone similar to Vexen being interrupted in the middle of one of his researching binges. "Demyx you'll get up right now or I'll tell your parents that you're currently failing history _and_ I won't tutor you any more. Or maybe I should track down that woman you're currently in agony over and ask her to be your new teacher?"

Demyx's eyes shot open faster than the smaller six could blink. "Zexy you wouldn't!" Demyx cried, shooting his most pitiful look yet at his friend. "There's no way that anyone could be **that** cruel, could there?"

Zexion only raised an eyebrow and shrugged, turning away. "You needed to wake up somehow." he offered by way of explanation.

"You're mean." Demyx pouted.

Before Zexion could retort with some scathing insult, he was interrupted by Sora. "Hey Demyx, you're phone has a new voicemail. Did you see it?" Obviously, as he'd been unconscious for the past half an hour, Demyx hadn't.

"Huh. I don't recognize the number." he said after checking.

Glancing over, Zexion said, "It might have been Professor Vexen calling. You should call back and see." Demyx nodded as the others gathered round to listen in.

All of a sudden, Vexen's voice snapped from the speaker, "Look if this is about that damned talking cat research, I'm not finished yet-!"

Emitting a _very _(not) manly squeak, Demyx tossed the phone to Zexion who hadn't been fazed at all by the sudden yelling. "Professor Vexen? It's Zexion. Did you call Demyx's cell earlier?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah I did." Vexen sounded tired and distracted.

"Well?" Zexion prompted.

"Well what?"

"Why did you call?"

"Oh. Umm…yeah, I've been researching like I was supposed to…"

Zexion absently noted that Vexen sounded like a kid assuring his parents that they were doing their homework even on vacation. "And?"

"I think I've found something so if you want to bring those that got shrunk over, I might be able to give them a remedy that should return them to their usual bodies." Vexen stated.

"I see. Alright then, we'll bring them right over."

Hanging up, Zexion turned to look at the others, staring back and waiting for whatever news Vexen had shared. He smirked. "Come on. I can finally be rid of you demons!" Zexion walked away. Demyx followed, calling for more of an explanation.

The kids turned to each other, silent for a bit before they really registered what Zexion must have heard. They were getting their bodies back! The two older teens could barely keep up once the kids (even Cloud and Leon) started running.

* * *

AN: Seems like it's coming to an end huh? I'd guess there are maybe two more chapters before this is complete. But that just means I'll be free to start something new! You know, as soon as I think of it...until then though, thanks for reading! As always, reviews are the greatest and thank you for the ones I've gotten up to now. Favs and alerts too!


	8. On Practical Jokes and Experimentation

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, since I do not currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts or anything else that might pop up in future writing, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

Vexen's house looked surprisingly normal-on the outside that is. Demyx was slightly amazed at the contrast between its outward appearance as opposed to the interior. On the _outside_, Vexen lived in a one story house in a rather clean, friendly neighborhood. He even had a little vegetable garden (no one looked closely enough to realize that the "vegetables" were strangely colored and rather…unique in species). When stopping for directions, he found out Vexen was regarded by the neighbors as a kindly old man who read the newspaper on the porch every afternoon while laughing at the antics of neighborhood children (it should be noted that the person they had in mind was actually a replica created to tend the rest of the garden, besides the vegetables; only the real Vexen could take care of those).

Once Demyx and Zexion, followed by six little ones, stepped foot inside however, everyone but Zexion subconsciously took a tiny step closer together.

Vexen barely had enough furniture to consider the rooms they occupied habitable. The kitchen merely had a fridge, microwave, and oven (with a stove-top). The living room contained only a few crates arranged loosely around a larger, longer crate (presumably a coffee table with chairs). These were the only rooms visible but the boys surmised the rest looked the same.

Roxas, peeking out from where he was hiding behind a rather delighted Axel, spoke. "I knew our school was cheap but is Vexen's salary really that low?"

Cloud, standing in front of Sora and Riku who were huddling close to each other, muttered, "His pay is probably that he can speak honestly when he says he has a legal job." Leon gave a barely noticeable grin at that.

Demyx swallowed a bit nervously. "Hey," he whispered, "I don't know if this is such a good idea. We came in here without knocking and all…"

Zexion rolled his eyes. "Well no matter how much we called or rang the doorbell we didn't get an answer. Professor Vexen is probably just concentrating too hard. We'll have to find him." He began to stride forward until he was unceremoniously yanked back.

Zexion looked back in confusion to see that Demyx had grabbed hold of his arm and didn't seem inclined to let go very soon. "No!" he cried. "Don't go. It's scary here so please don't leave me alone!" Demyx pleaded with his most pathetic look yet.

Cheeks strangely warm, Zexion shook Demyx off and said testily, "Fine. Follow me and we'll all look around together."

* * *

They eventually managed to make enough noise with their "looking around" to draw Vexen from his basement. At first paranoid about spies from struggling governments out to steal his research, once Vexen realized it was only a group of his failing students chaperoned by two students actually passing his class (although Demyx didn't actually study; instead, he called what he did "making use of resources", mainly Zexion) he allowed them to follow him downstairs.

Now, Axel didn't go to see a lot of movies but he was still familiar with that classic mad scientist lab (**he **thought Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). This is what Vexen's lab looked like except a tiny bit smaller and messy as hell (messier, in fact although nobody knew that).

There were an assortment of different liquids and gases, all doing a variety of things in containers of all shapes known to man (and a few known only to gamers). The only light came from a strong lamp sitting at a desk and illuminating a single bottle. Axel, in all his eagerness, rushed over to it.

"Is this it? Can I drink it? I want to drink it first! Please? Come on, please? I desperately want to drink it **right this instant**!" And displaying classic Axel behavior, he took a sip without waiting for a reply.

"Ah." Vexen said, "That…wasn't the one you were supposed to drink." The other five children who had been watching the redhead intently for signs of change whipped around.

"What do you mean it isn't the right one? It was the only thing sitting out that looked like you were done with it! How misleading do you want to be?" Roxas exclaimed.

Vexen shrugged. "It's his fault for not listening first."

"Wait," Sora cut in. "If that wasn't the antidote, what was it?"

The three turned back to Axel who was still frozen in place. "Axel…?" Riku ventured.

Spinning around, Axel shouted, "Vexen what the hell did you do to me?" He was grinning like a madman.

"Hmm, it seems that you've drunk my mood reversal medicine. No matter what you're feeling, you'll show the opposite expression." Vexen explained. He grabbed a clipboard and scribbled something down.

"So you mean to say that even though he looks like Roxas just proclaimed his undying love, that actually means he's beyond pissed?" Sora asked.

Roxas flushed wildly. "W-we're not a couple you know!"

"Oh, everyone knows you might as well be!" Sora teased. "No matter how much you fight."

Roxas sighed. He _would've _tried once again to explain to Sora that his and Axel's fighting was a show of affection but that might've ended up proving a point so he kept quiet.

Instead, he wandered over to a table after spotting another bottle not connected to anything. "Hey!" he called. "Is this the real antidote?"

Vexen barely looked up, just shrugged and said, "Try eating it to find out."

Roxas opened the bottle and found some tiny pills inside. Eyeing them mistrustfully, he cautiously took one out and told Cloud to swallow it. Cloud rolled his eyes but took the pill, just because Roxas was his favorite metaphorical (or, he _hoped _metaphorical) little brother. (For those wondering, this was in comparison to Sora who was a bit too energetic for Cloud to deal with all the time).

A few seconds later, Cloud was practically bouncing off the walls, to the amazement of everyone. "It was supposed to be an anti-motivational pill." Vexen observed in confusion.

"Well, you know Cloud." Riku told him. "He was probably so apathetic that it had the opposite effect." The small scientist just nodded and scribbled more on the clipboard.

Cloud, in all his new found hyperness, managed to knock a few bottles over, including one with a dark liquid. Sora picked it up and unscrewed the cap. Riku, who noticed this immediately started to worry. "Sora! Don't drink that! Who knows what kind of weird stuff it'll do to you." he warned in worried tones. Sora, ignoring this, drunk the whole thing. "Sora!" Riku called in dismay, rushing over.

Sora grinned brightly and hurried to reassure his friend. "Don't worry Riku! It's just coffee."

Riku paused. "Coffee?"

"Yup!"

"I give up Vexen. Your lab is too weird. Who the hell keeps coffee in a container like that? Just tell us where the real cure is." he sighed.

Vexen immediately went over to where Demyx was standing next to a cabinet and started rummaging through it. As he searched, Demyx spoke up. "Come to think of it, why do you have all these weird medicines in the first place?" he asked, his curiosity temporarily overcoming his fear of the teacher.

Vexen grinned, almost making Demyx regret the question. "It bothers me but my childish self couldn't stop thinking of all these ideas for medicines that could be used to prank people. In order to keep myself from getting totally distracted by thoughts like that, I just put together the medicine so I could keep concentrating on finding a cure."

"Oh…I see." Demyx didn't really see.

* * *

Meanwhile, there was a certain slate haired teen that had been silent for the majority of this time. He was on the other side of the room, and was currently caught up in some confusing thoughts.

From the start of this whole incident, Zexion had wanted nothing more than for Vexen to find a way to fix Axel and Riku's mistake so that he could return to doing what he wanted. It wasn't that he _disliked _spending time with his friends. It was just that he was used to having at least a little alone time. But it turned out that babysitting the six children with Demyx (who could probably truthfully be called his best friend no matter what others thought) hadn't been as bad as he'd been expecting. He might've even ended up having fun at some point or another, although his usual attitude kept him from showing it.

This could possibly have been the reason that right now he was experiencing the feelings of a parent suddenly realizing that their little boy was all grown up and heading off to the adult world. It was a strange mix of melancholy and surrealism and Zexion found it totally ridiculous.

Just because he had enjoyed the past two days (had it really only been two days?), didn't mean that he should be getting sentimental. He'd still be able to see his friends. He'd still spend time with Demyx. It just wouldn't be as some dysfunctional family anymore.

…oh crap. Had he just compared those idiots to _family_? Obviously there was something wrong with him. Hopefully, it was the chemical fumes from Vexen's experiments.

(Note: it wasn't).

* * *

The cheering was what drew Zexion from his thoughts. He looked over to see…a fully grown Axel, Roxas, Sora, and Riku rushing over to him. Cloud and Leon, both also back to normal, were breaking character and smiling and even laughing a bit in the background.

"We're back to normal!" Sora shouted.

Roxas laughed and jumped around a bit with Axel. Demyx dodged around them and went up to Zexion. "It's great isn't it?" he asked.

Zexion nodded, and smiled. "Yeah." he agreed. After all, he was fine with thinking of them as family as long as they stayed out of his house. It was more fun with them around anyway.

* * *

AN: I am _so _sorry about how long it took me to post this! I've actually had it ready and typed up for a few weeks now but the site wouldn't let me access my stories to post a new chapter...but it works now! So. Wow. They're finally back to normal. But it's not the last chapter yet! I still have one more to go. Hopefully, you all read it. Here, I'll even tell you the name of it in advance: On Childish Antics and Romance. Look forward to it. (I sound confident, but don't be fooled). Anyway, thanks bunches for reading all you kind people. Reviews are the best and I get so happy when I recieve them. This also counts for favorites and alerts! Thanks for all the ones I've gotten up until now. Well, see you!


	9. On Childish Antics and Romance

Disclaimer: I suppose I should slip one of these in here huh? Well then, seeing as I don't currently possess the rights to Kingdom Hearts, I think it can be safely concluded that I own nothing.

* * *

"So."

"So..."

"**So**."

"So-"

"Would someone get to the point already?" Roxas snapped, interrupting Riku.

Axel sighed. "That's kind of the problem here Rox. We don't really know if there's a point to this little meeting or not." he informed the impatient blond.

"Oh, there's a point." Sora contradicted. "We just don't know what it is yet!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Well, that makes everything better. Not."

"Well what are we supposed to do Your Highness?" Riku asked. "We're supposed to be coming up with a way to thank Zexion and Demyx for putting up with all our crap over the past few days but no one's making any suggestions."

"Speaking of Zexy and Dem, haven't they gotten closer recently?" Axel asked.

"Well they've kind of had to. You can't take care of six kids any other way." Riku pointed out.

"That's not what I mean!" Axel tried to make himself clear. "It's like…different. Between them, that is. Sora knows what I'm talking about!"

All eyes turned to Sora, the resident emotional expert. He just shrugged apologetically. "Actually, I don't. Sorry Axel."

"But I do." Roxas said. "What Axel means is that it seems like they're starting to become more than friends, or at least heading in the direction of thinking that way. I don't think they realize it yet though." he added.

"That's my best friend!" Axel threw his arms around Roxas in a half tackle, half hug. "See? We're so connected that he understands exactly what I'm thinking!"

Testily, Roxas pushed Axel off. "Uh…no. It's just so blindingly obvious that only an oblivious fool like Sora and a self-centered maniac like Riku wouldn't notice."

"Hey!" they cried in unison.

"Sorry." Roxas glared at the redhead who was refusing to move out of his personal bubble. "I get meaner the closer I am to him."

"It's fine." Sora assured him. "I really didn't notice it but looking back now, I feel like I should have."

"Right? Like, Demyx is the only one Zexion doesn't snap at for calling him Zexy." Riku said.

"And, and! Zexion is always the first person Demyx goes to for help." Axel added.

"Did you see how he was clutching onto Zexion in Vexen's house?" Sora asked.

"I'm pretty sure Zex was blushing." Roxas was always good at remembering those sorts of details.

"So!" Sora shouted. "It's decided." The other three teenagers nodded. "Our way of thanking Zexion and Demyx is to meddle in their love lives like the nosy busybodies we are!"

"When you put it like that, it almost sounds bad…" Riku smirked.

"Someone should call Cloud and Leon!" Axel shouted.

As Sora (the most persuasive out of all of them by far-not even Demyx could beat his pouting expression) dialed the phone, Roxas sat back. Even though he'd agreed to this, he was sure something bode unwell for the two absent people (who weren't Cloud and Leon). "Best of luck to the both of you." he muttered.

* * *

Exiting the store with his purchase, Zexion stopped in his tracks at the sight of a very determined looking Sora approaching him. Some little voice in the back of his head told him to run away, run away very quickly like he should have done that one time in front of the science room. However, seeing as a voice in his head wasn't necessarily the best thing in the world, Zexion ignored it and waited for Sora to reach him.

Once he did, Sora started talking. As fast as Zexion should have run.

There were many things Zexion could understand in the world. What Sora just said was not one of them. The only words he'd been able to get out of the whole thing were Roxas, present, and help. Luckily for Sora, he could fill in the rest. The slate haired teen barely had enough time to nod before Sora was off like a shot, dragging Zexion behind him like a rag doll (except much more reluctantly and a lot better looking).

* * *

Demyx was lonely. Which was strange because usually Demyx was one of the more sociable people in his group of friends. He almost always had someone to spend time with. But this loneliness was different. It was more than just the fact that he was actually on his own for the first time in a few days. It was just that after having his house filled with the sounds of six little kids (only four of which were actually making noise), the abrupt silence made it seem…emptier than it was before.

Honestly, although Zexion hadn't seemed to like the situation much and of course he felt bad for Axel and the others, Demyx had been enjoying himself. It wasn't often that he got to take part in activities that could be considered part of "family bonding". But that was over now. He'd just have to make sure to invite people over to his house more often.

But just as he was making up his mind about that, Demyx was distracted, for here came someone to get rid of the loneliness! It was Axel.

"Hey Dem. What's up?"

"Axel!" Demyx rejoiced. Now he could finally get rid of those pesky thoughts. If you hadn't noticed yet, Demyx wasn't overly fond of either thinking unnecessarily or analyzing the deep psychological shit that spawned it.

Axel smirked. It was a kind of smirk that just promised future suffering but unfortunately for Demyx he was too busy celebrating to notice that the path of his future well-being had just taken a sharp curve downwards. "So Dem. What with all the chaos going on,"

"Caused by you." Demyx helpfully pointed out. Axel cleared his throat meaningfully. Obviously he'd been hoping people would forget about that.

"What with all the chaos going on," he continued, "I didn't get a chance to ask you but there's this concert today I have tickets for. Want to go?"

"Eh?" Demyx was rightfully shocked. "There was a concert I didn't know about?" He had thought he knew everything that was going on, music wise. Hell, he seemed to know about new bands appearing before the members themselves!

For a minute Axel seemed to be scrambling for something to say. "Uh well, it's pretty far away so…um if you want to go we'll have to leave now…?"

Demyx relaxed. "Oh. Well alright. Where is it?"

"Just follow me. I'll drive us there." Axel started to walk away.

"Axel…you're not allowed to drive anymore remember?" Demyx looked at him in confusion. "You know, after the…_incident_?" he whispered.

Axel stiffened at the mention of the little mishap that had cost him three thousand dollars, two months of the silent treatment from Roxas, and most of his eyebrows. But he recovered quickly, whirling around to face Demyx with an evil grin that he actually noticed this time. Clapping his hands, Axel announced in a not so reassuring voice, "Don't worry! Roxas gave me special permission to drive today!" And with that he grabbed Demyx and shoved him in the car.

* * *

Neither of them noticed a brunette woman watching them from across the street. Twirling her impossible flippy hair around a finger she wondered aloud, "Isn't that Demyx from the mall? I wonder if I should go say hi…but it looks like he's busy being kidnapped…oh well!"

"Selphie!" Her blond friend exclaimed from beside her. "Doesn't that mean we should be calling the police?"

Selphie just laughed and playfully hit her friend on the shoulder. "Oh, come on Tidus, I was just joking. There's no way something like a kidnapping that I've only heard about on TV or in newspapers would actually happen so close to me! They look like friends!"

Tidus sighed and turned to Wakka next to him, intent on pleading for some common sense to intrude in the world of their female friend. The taller man just shrugged. "It looked like they knew each other so isn't it fine?"

"Whatever, man. If this shows up in the news tomorrow we're keeping quiet got it?"

* * *

"Sora…Sora!" Zexion tried once again to gain the brunette's attention. Once again, he was duly ignored. Finally, Zexion had to put his foot down, which nearly started a very intimate relationship between his face and the ground but at least got Sora to stop. Once Zexion wasn't flying behind him, it was easier for Sora to realize he had been trying to speak to him.

"Yes, Zexion?" he asked a bit timidly.

Zexion sighed. "I just want to make something clear really fast. You want me to help you pick out a present for Roxas yes?" Sora nodded. "Okay, I can help with that. What did you want to get him?"

"A book!" Sora chirped.

Zexion just had to stare for a moment, astounded at the sheer unawareness Sora exhibited. "You do realize that the place you just dragged me away from was a book store right?" he felt the need to ask.

This time, Sora stared. "Uh…" Zexion sighed. Sora, bright red, tried to save himself. "Of, of course I did! I just didn't want to go in that one since you were just in there! Besides, I'm pretty sure Riku mentioned a book store around here somewhere…" Sora trailed off, looking around. "Ooh! Speaking of Riku, there he is! With Roxas!" Sora cried, pointing to a little café where Roxas and Riku were indeed located.

As Sora once again grabbed Zexion's wrist and dragged him away, the disgruntled teen tried to ignore the faint irritation at the fact that the one holding his hand wasn't blond and considerably taller. Instead, he distracted himself with thoughts of how Sora was _such_ an airhead.

Ahead of him and where Zexion couldn't see, Sora grinned mischievously. Zexion had no idea just how much of an airhead Sora **wasn't** being right now.

* * *

"Axel?"

"Hmm?" Axel glanced over at Demyx in the passenger's seat questioningly.

"What are we doing at a café?" the blond asked.

"Oh, well it's going to take a while to get to the concert so I figured we might as well eat now." he explained. "I would've suggested take out but that's a lot of money to pay for food that tastes like cardboard. On the other hand, this place has good food and both Rox and Riku work here so with whatever discounts we get from both of them, we could probably save a whole bunch!"

Demyx nodded in understanding. For once, Axel had come to a conclusion that made a lot of sense. "Somehow I feel like something is about to go horribly wrong…" he mumbled.

"You say something?"

"Nope. Not at all."

* * *

Sora and Zexion reached the entrance to the café at the same time as Axel and Demyx. Sora, who spotted the other two first, was just in time to call out, "Ah! If it isn't Demyx!" His words were flat and sounded like they came from a script.

At the same time Axel called in a terribly unconvincing surprised voice, "Oh look, it's Zexion!" He and Sora immediately gravitated toward each other.

"Fancy seeing you here huh?" Sora laughed.

"Yup. What a surprise…" Axel replied.

"Were you going to eat here too?"

"Uh-huh. Actually, do you mind if we join you?" Axel asked.

Sora grinned and insisted that they do. Meanwhile, Demyx and Zexion looked on in confusion. Somehow it ended up with the two of them sitting at a table while Axel and Sora made their excuses to escape. "Sorry!" Sora said, giving them a mildly realistic apologetic look. "Roxas is calling me, so I've got to go."

"And I just remembered something I have to take care of in the area. You two eat together and we'll come back to grab you when you're done." Axel said before taking off, Sora following closely.

"Huh? What's with them?" Demyx asked, looking at Zexion.

The teen just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Ugh, I get it now. They had this all planned out. Their motive from the beginning was to get us together."

"So there isn't really a concert?" Demyx exclaimed.

Zexion raised an eyebrow. "Planning on ditching me for a concert with Axel, Dem?"

"Oh! No!" Demyx waved his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I would've been back in time to meet you tonight." he assured.

"That's good. I had something important to ask you tonight after all." Zexion admitted. "Although, I could probably ask you here just as well."

Demyx looked interested. "Then ask me!"

Zexion smirked. "You sure? It might be shocking. And there are people watching." Four familiar heads quickly ducked down behind the row of plants within earshot of their table.

Demyx just laughed it off. "I'm sure it can't be that surprising! You didn't murder anyone did you? So just lay it on me!"

"Okay." Zexion agreed. "While we were looking over Roxas, Axel, Riku, Sora, Cloud, and Leon last week, I realized I liked you. The six of them probably noticed this and decided to set it up so that we'd get a good chance to romance it up but I suppose they weren't aware that I had everything perfectly under control." Demyx stared. "Which brings me to my question," Zexion continued. "The four over there were probably hoping for some sort of show but I've never been one to beat around the bush so I'll come straight out and ask you. Go out with me?" Zexion stopped himself before he could really start babbling.

"Uh, um this is pretty sudden! I mean, I don't even know if I…! Err…" Demyx fidgeted awkwardly.

Zexion sighed. "It's fine if you want to refuse. I just thought I'd ask…" But his words didn't hide the faint disappointment in his voice. Demyx made up his mind.

"No!" he cried. "I mean yes! I mean, no I don't want to refuse. Yes I do want to date you because…well, I like you too." By now the blonde's face could rival even Axel's hair. "I'm just not sure if I really deserve being this happy."

For once, Zexion smiled a true smile. In public, no less. "Trust me, you deserve much more than that." he said.

They sealed the deal with a kiss.

* * *

From behind a certain row of bushes four teenagers were busy celebrating for their two friends. As Sora and Roxas high-fived each other, Riku remarked to Axel, "I have to admit I was hoping for something a little more dramatic but I'm glad they got things worked out."

Axel nodded. "Yup. Those two are good for each other…just like Rox and me!"

Riku cut him off. "Uh…no. Don't bring your delusions into the real world please." he deadpanned.

Axel pouted. "Whatever. You'll see. One day you'll all see!" he shouted. In his head that is, if he had really shouted Demyx and Zexion would have discovered their friends' hobby of eavesdropping.

"Hey, come to think of it where's our food?" That sudden remark sent Roxas and Riku scrambling for the kitchen. Only Axel and Sora were left behind to hear the follow-up comment.

"Don't worry, if the food doesn't come, I'll gladly eat you."

"Hey! You're not allowed to say something so suggestive! I'll eat _you_!"

* * *

"In the end…" Cloud remarked as he leaned against his precious motorcycle, "the only part we played in this was getting Tifa to lend us her café for the four of them to use."

Leon sighed. "Well, isn't it best this way? It leaves us free to do some…other things." he trailed off.

"Yeah." Cloud agreed. "Like study for that test Vexen's giving in science on Tuesday."

A double sigh echoed around the parking lot.

* * *

AN: Okay, here it is! The very last chapter. The final part of this story. Is this what a parent feels...? But I really have to admit I've owed you guys this for sooo long. I'm sorry it took me such a while to write it. But it's done now and hopefully I haven't disappointed? I really don't know how long I've been writing this story but it certainly has been an enjoyable run. A lot of great people have reviewed, favorited, and alerted this and for that I shall be eternally grateful. Truly, thank you. Here's a list!

SharinganWeasel, The . L O S T . Paperclip, Froggiecool, Alex Wraithborn, UndineAlice, miano53, Blue October, The Cloaked Yu-Gi-Oh Schemer, Anon aka Chicken, MayaDarkling, 0Wishful-Thoughts0, and ObsessiveShikaTemaFan.

Those are just the reviews but that's the only list I can get to right now. If you favorited or alerted but your name isn't up there, know that I am just as happy!

Lastly, it's not like this is the only thing I'll be writing! I actually have a new series in mind. Think cakes! And there's a little sidestory that goes along with this brewing in my mind...but that'll probably come much later, like Halloween later. Just because the idea goes along with that holiday. (Please don't ask why I'm thinking of this stuff in May).

But whether you read my other stuff or not, thanks for reading this particular story! If you were to give me one last review, I'd be extremely happy. Just tell me your thoughts on the chapter, the story as a whole, or whatever criticism you have. I'll smile at it all! Thanks~!


End file.
